Valfaris: Mecha Therion

This might be the best game I've tried in 2024 so far. I was a bit skeptical getting this as I don't usually care about flying shoot 'em ups, and also thought the mech sections in the first game were a bit clunky controls-wise. But this game kicks ass.
Highlights:
The store page doesn't do the art justice. The graphics are eye popping and psychedelic at times, and the heavy metal soundtrack in this one is even better than the first game
The controls are buttery smooth and responsive
Each level has its entirely own visual style, music, and enemy designs.
The environments are interactive and there are always unexpected things flying at you.
The difficulty ramps up high which is how I like it
Runs perfectly on Steam Deck (I've been playing offline hence my time played)
This is an easy recommend. I think this game deserves a lot more attention, it's fantastic.

The hunt goes on!
***
Mecha Therion is a streamlined heavy-metal experience—brutal, direct, and rhythmic, which makes it fun and wholesome. Of all Steel Mantis games, it feels the most accomplished. Changing the genre from a platform shooter to a side-scrolling shoot 'em up and sticking to a concise couple of hours for a playthrough made Valfaris even more entertaining. No bull*hit, no frustration. You boot it up, fly straight ahead in a mecha, and destroy any opposition.
Graphics are an acid bath of metal spikes and radioactive glow, with purple and orange tints making the most of the color palette. It looks badass, but sometimes projectiles are hard to spot in this otherworldly sunset kaleidoscope. Even though it makes the progression harder, I would say it is worth tolerance because the game is visually pure awesomeness.
Ex-Celtic Frost bassist/guitarist Curt Victor Bryant wrote the score, as he did for all previous Steel Mantis games. It is one of his finest. Of course, it is not To Mega Therion that Valfaris developers wittily paraphrased in the game's title, and it should not be. It is a game soundtrack, after all. Bryant's deliberate, epic metal drives the narrative. The composition continues upon death and rebirth, which is a nice feature; the only exception is boss fights because they must start from a specific musical point. Overall, music, graphics, and gameplay are neatly tied together and constitute a single art piece that is hard to imagine without any of its elements.
The word Valfaris is an homage to Terje "Valfar" Bakken, the deceased founder of the Norwegian folk/black metal band Windir. Good stuff.
Played on Steam Deck. Verdict for Deckers: Excellent.
Curator: Metal Shrike

Already much better than the first game. The first Valfaris was NES tough platformer, did not enjoy, this one is a sidescrolling shmup with upgrades. Based dev. The only thing missing is some voice acting.

Unless you REALLY enjoy replaying your games multiple times (and this game has some incentives to do so) I wouldn't recommend this at full price. But if you take the value-proposition out of the equation, it is very fun casual shmup. It has excellent and unique visual style that combines with the extremely heavy soundtrack to create one of the most metal games out there (with the first Valfaris). The "use melee to deflect bullets and charge your guns" mechanic works surprisingly well. You have a lifebar so you don't die in one hit and you can find more health in the levels. The checkpointing is pretty merciful. There are a lot of guns, secondary guns and melee-weapons to pick from and upgrade. You'll most likely have headbanging good time for one evening with Mecha Therion.

I only recommend getting this when it is on sales. It is a fun game, but as a shmups this is quite average. I think platformer game is definitely stronger as a studio.

Pros:
- Visual / art style
- Music / VFX
- Game is pretty fun & fair on most part
Cons:
- Weapon balancing
A few just straight out better / meta
- Module balancing
Same as weapon, a few just is better / meta
- Some part is very frustrating to play, especially on higher difficulty
Camera angle
Visual cluster
Amount of enemy in tight space
Have to melee in some situation
3D sometimes mess up your perception

Ive been a gamer for many years, have had just about every popular game system made. I played when polygons were new, nothing beats sprites for gaming experience. I cannot stand most AAA titles, they are not fun, cant stand the greedy microtransactions, and political agendas. I dont care about graphics so much anymore, I just want fun.
This game and first one are not the prettiest visual wise but the soundtrack really gets you into the game, fast game play, difficult but fair, and just really fun. I hope these types of games keep being made. AAA makers will probably buy out all of them, shelve the talent and push their crappy AAA games. Until that day comes please keep the indie games rolling.
To me it is the best time in gaming history, games are back to how all should be made. Great job!

way better than the first one, only problem is i don't read very fast and some times the text boxes disappear before i can finish them